I had drafted a post transfer window analysis and assessment of the squad when events started to overtake us.
First there was the derby defeat and then Joe Kinnear’s resignation. Since then fights have broken out on the ‘blog.
It does beg the question of what happened and why? The match I think has been answered by the apologies of the players, and Pardew’s habit of losing it if he does not have enough preparation time. The “resignation” of Joe appears to be down to the fact that Yohan Cabaye went too cheaply and before a replacement had been signed. This has cost Ashley money. An unforgivable sin. So where now?
There are calls for the head of everybody associated with the club, Owner, Manager, etc. Life has a habit of unpredictability and surprises so we may have new owners and a new manager before the end of the season.
However, we can see from the experience of other clubs that the chances of getting good new owners who are prepared to splash the cash and hang in for the long term seem to be two out of dozens. Having an owner who wants to keep a tight ship in the upper reaches of the Premier League might not be the worst position to be in. After all NUFC has seen the top ten all too rarely and perhaps a bit of stable top ten would make a nice change. And if that were the limit of our owners ambition he has the right manager in place to keep delivering it.
It would appear that the only reason to change things would be if we were to radically change our ambition. In my opinion that would require a change of owner as the bedsheet brigade has ensured that our current owner has little empathy left.
Despite what some appear to profess changing owners is a high risk strategy. Not to be undertaken lightly, or seen as a magical solution to all our perceived woes.
On the positive side the departure of both Llambias and Kinnear may well indicate that Ashley will not tolerate incompetence if it costs him money. So I would hope to see better run transfer windows in future. But who will make the decisions? Ashley has not wanted a manager with sole authority and he is therefore unlikely to give Pardew that role.
So will we get a new Director of Football in or indeed a new Chairman? Crony-ism might indicate the arrival of El Tel, Glenn or ‘Arry. Whereas professionals such as Nicholas Cortese, Damien Comolli or Christian Purslow are all out there. Not that they are to the taste of everybody, and of course there are other managers out there too. Few that have achieved more than Pardew in the Premier League but plenty with experience at higher levels abroad. It is interesting to see the shortlist for the Swansea Job.
If I had had a five year plan when we were promoted I would have suggested a year avoiding relegation, a year establishing ourselves in the top ten and then a year qualifying for Europe. All of which we have had, but in the wrong order.
To consolidate where we are, which in my view is best of the rest knocking on the door of the top six, I think we would need to tie down our loan signings and buy a few more players so that we have a bench that gives options so that we don’t just play the same formulaic subs every week. It’s not rocket science and it’s not much.
I don’t buy this asset stripping theory. The more successful the club, the higher the profile, the more it’s worth when it’s sold. However it’s not worth throwing the hundreds of millions it take to challenge for top four.
So here we are with not much to play for this year, a decent starting 11, not much depth and a few kids who may develop. I don’t think an analysis is relevant at this point to be honest. I’ll save that for the end of the season. It looks like there is not much excitement left to look forward to until then.
Would somebody switch off the lights on their way out.
Kinnear was kin’hopeless, so there is definitely one positive 😉
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
thanks for the article Prem! always an interesting read! 😉
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
dont agree with much what you have said but hey, its a point of view so thats cool. The very notion that Joke Kinnear was selling cabaye without ashley having any knowledge of the price it was for is ridiculous in the extreame. As Shearer said, there is only one man at newcastle that controls everything and that is fat boy. When AP refers to ‘the board” wtf is he going on about? there is only 1 man on it.
Being 8th is not an issue, being 10th is not an issue.. being a club with zero ambition is an issue. being happy to just stay in the prem with a high turnover of players and zero player stability is an issue. Tell me – who’s name do you get put on the back of your shirt these days? None cos the chances are if it is a good player he will be sold to the highest bidder – without a replacement klined up.
Ashley wants it all, he wants to sell for the highest but always pay the lowest, he wants to be high in the prem but with no investment. he would like respect but gives none.
I have yet to see one positive thing from Ashley taking over the club tbh. Please dont anyone say finincial stability ffs.. thats been flogged to death and no-one knows the ins and out of that one.
craig chisholm(Quote)
Craig@3, The only name to go on my shirt is mine since my loyalty to the club is unwavering. I did have Shearer once but that’s because the guy was/is a legend.
Prem ,Good read thank you. We all know what needs to be done to consolidate but I’m not holding my breath. If mike didn’t see fit to step in and make sure we had Cabs replacement this window when we were so close to breaking top 6, he isn’t gonna worry come summer imo. We are safe and that’s all that matters to him, but are we safe?, we still haven’t gotten to 40+ points yet and I don’t see us getting more points until possibly Hull, but even they will be a tough test imo. Fulham should get us 3 all being well. It’s a real shame the season has been allowed to Pieter out like this, every time we are going well a crisis happens, usually of our own making or rather our owners 🙄 😳 . It’s not easy being a Toon fan is it, constantly having our loyalty tested it seems, if this was a man I was married to I would of kicked him to the kerb long ago.
KIMTOON(Quote)
‘In my opinion that would require a change of owner as the bedsheet brigade has ensured that our current owner has little empathy left.’ 😯
chill out with bedsheet brigade chat. if you are talking about people that vehemently want him out then you can count me in as one of them, though ive never had a bedsheet
and fairplay to the ‘bedsheet brigade’ for being passionate about something and trying to make their voices heard in public- we cant all be bloggers and sit behind our computers faceless looking down on those horrible bedsheet individuals 🙄
DOITFORSIRBOBBY(Quote)
ok so ive had a besdheet 😳
just not at St. James 😛
DOITFORSIRBOBBY(Quote)
ps – asset stripping is not a theory prem
i know you like facts and figures
have a look at our books since MA came in
as i said – it isnt a theory
DOITFORSIRBOBBY(Quote)
Other than that; this is a good and thoughtful article
DOITFORSIRBOBBY(Quote)
Good article Prem.
Refreshing during the mega super duper crisis that we are in. For me not to much has changed since the start of the new year A few games we should of picked more points up obviously is a bit annoying. We will see how quickly Pardew can adapt considering Cabaye was a big part of his tactic. Two tough games coming up which I would have put down as losses even with Cabaye but no doubt the bedsheet brigade will be in full swing, feasting on every possible negative thing and somehow making it the owners fault.
DIFSB
Indulge us. show us what you think is proof that he is asset stripping the club.
Can see us losing 2-0 to Chelsea considering their amazing form and great defensive record. I would be shocked if we got anything from the game.
Santii(Quote)
Never really bought the asset stripping line, Asset strippers would have touted players around and found buyers for Ben Arfa, Krul, Tiote, Cisse when they were red hot and Cabaye wouldve gone much earlier. He wants the club wiping its own face so he can sell it, He never really bothered hiding away from that fact when he was giving away free pints and sitting in the away end.
As tough as the last week has been and as frustrating as the transfer window was (again) 8th in the table three points off what may well be a european spot is better than most expected. In comparison to the play off semi and 91/92 this has been a cake walk. It will more than likely get worse before it gets better but thats Newcastle United.
CC(Quote)
CC, we are 8th based on what we were doing pre window and a disasterous January on every count. ithink we have3 won like 2 in the last 10 or something like that. We are 8th but two infront of 09th and for sure we will not be in the top 10 at the end of the season.
As for asset stripping, your memory might be failing you but do you not recall we tied tiote down to a 6 year deal to inflate his value then tried to sell him to chelsea. The only reason he stayed is because the man himself said he wanted to stay at newcastle and refused the move. Of course asset strip – carrol with no replacement, cabs with no replacement, at the end of this season we lose remy as not our player, we lose ameobi and prob will lose this other loan player we have from germany also. We have just tried to sell cisse to the turks but he could not agree terms and also did not want to leave. The fact remains though that we wanted to sell both him and tiote. Fat man knows if he sold every big asset in one season that he would have a serious mutiny on his hands with fans and team alike, thats why he does one or two every season, his best players.. its just about enough to keep the dummies thinking he is trying his best and cant compete with the lure of champ league spots blah blah .. can you imagine, when cisse goes this summer we will have not one single out and out striker senior at the club, if thats not fuked i dont know what is.
craig chisholm(Quote)
Sorry Santi – its not fair really. I should have said what I do for work before you got all sarcy.
Would have saved you the embarrassment.
Anyway – to put it simply for your simple mind 😆 – asset stripping is the process of buying an undervalued company (in this case Newcastle United FC for what he thought was a bargain) with the intent to sell off its assets for a profit. Or in other words, selling a companies individual assets at a profit.
Soooo – as you know (or maybe not 😯 ) newcastle united have made a multi million pound profit on transfers since MA joined
Now this isnt a bad thing on MA’s part
hes a businessman
but just explaining, as you didnt seem to know
ta ta 😀
DOITFORSIRBOBBY(Quote)
oh – and although asset stripping is used mainly in a pejorative sense, it is not necessarily a bad thing –
would just not like it to be done at the Football Club I love
not a biggie really 👿
DOITFORSIRBOBBY(Quote)
I don’t know if Mike Ashley is asset stripping.
I do know that he will not sell up unless he gets more out of the club/from the club than he has put in.
There is zero excitement left for the club this season.
Whether we win or lose doesn’t matter as we’ll still finish in the top 10.
Whether we play well or not doesn’t matter as Pardew will still be manager.
When football stops mattering, is there any point?
KK(Quote)
KK – 100 quid says we will not finish in the top ten.
craig chisholm(Quote)
@Richitoon
Thanks for the response from tge last article. It was a good read with some very good points.
KK(Quote)
KK now there I agree with you
Premandup(Quote)
@Craig
Lol, i don’t gamble but i get the sentiment.
The only good thing about not finishing in the top 10 is that Pardew will be replaced for sure.
Mixed feelings. I want us to do well but i’m convinced we could do better long term without Pardew.
KK(Quote)
When football stops mattering, is there any point?
so true
hope we beat chelsea, or not lose badly
but i dont care as much now
DOITFORSIRBOBBY(Quote)
@Premandup
Thanks buddy although to be fair it’s more a case of me agreeing with your last paragraph!
KK(Quote)
It was a tad wordy tho! 😛
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
@aussie
You’re just used to ‘reading’ books with pictures 😆
KK(Quote)
KK 😉 and your point is….. 😛
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
A picture tells a thousand words aussie so perhaps next time Richietoon could draw his opinion.
KK(Quote)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2553796/Proof-money-buys-happiness-Manchester-City-Chelsea-Manchester-United-net-spend-charts.html
DOITFORSIRBOBBY(Quote)
One picture is worth a thousand denials…
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
@25.. that is a stunning chart which shows us one thing for sure, which everyone knew anyway.. ahsley has not invested 1 single penny in newcastle but has instead stripped assets as he creams off as much money as possible to fund his other ventures outside of NUFC, we are a cash cow and advert board for his cheap chav **** shops. Look at how much **** is plastered over our ground saying sprts direct – how much would any other prem team get paid by a sponsor for that? 20 million a year at least.. not our fat mike.. the piece of fat **** that he is. makes my **** boil man.
craig chisholm(Quote)
The mad thing is, we have still probably got it in us to finish 9th and have the staff bonuses and in that regard be classed as a successful season.
DJG(Quote)
I’ve heard about the books Aussie reads with pictures but I thought they were magazines 😉 , he likes anything by PEI publications 😀
KIMTOON(Quote)
looking at the graph again from @25..
Stoke have spent 135 million more than us in five years. Villa 130 million, Hull and Norwich have spent 100 million more and have only been in the prem a coupel of years. How can anyone say **** face is not asset stripping ,the numbers are damning in the extreame. where is the cash going??? The books are cooked and he is fuking us up the ****.
craig chisholm(Quote)
Craig, I saw an article the other day about the Howay the Lads sign that is above the lads as they leave the tunnel, it now has a massive Sports Direct sign directly beneath it 🙄 ,can you imagine that under This is Anfield, there would be uproar. It’s tacky and looks minging too.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim 😯 who me !
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Craig, Take a look
http://www.newcastleunited-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/the_reason_why_players_were_not_motivated_against_mackems_823635/index.shtml
KIMTOON(Quote)
Aussie, Don’t worry mate I won’t tell anyone. 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
@aussie 😆
KK(Quote)
Where does the new training facility fit into this asset stripping plan of his.
Santii(Quote)
I should say eco friendly state of the art training facility 😆 😆
Nice to see Mike Ashley cares about the environment not many big billionaires do…. 😆 😆
Santii(Quote)
I remember him saying he was going to invest £20m per year into the club but that disappeared with the Keegan Fiasco.
Those figures will include the relegation fire sale, and possibly Cabaye? Realistically we would still be near the bottom of the table but more likely breaking even. ish. Anyway that just reflects well on our Manager that he is achieving more with less.
If Ashley is Asset stripping the Value of the club would be decreasing and money would be leaving the club in Ashleys direction, which it isn’t. Simply reading the club accounts shows that.
Premandup(Quote)
I sure do envy stoke and all that money they have spent. The ambition they show is immense. 😯
Prem people seem to think he is selling our players just to add to his personal wealth. Never mind the fact its illegal to do that though.
Santii(Quote)
A good well thought well written article Prem .As for the asset strpping theory of some people i dont agree but the none investment does boil my **** .When Ashley took over it was made clear early doors by Chris Mort that the club would be made too run its self no more spending more than was coming in well , all good their and understandable but no investment is just taking the **** .Hopefully with Kinnear gone that will change in the summer but its a case of wait and see more than i believe that will happen Ashley signs the checks not the dof.The sooner Ashley leavves the club the better but it must not be at the cost of a new owner that is Like the Cardiff city or Hulll city owners they are ripping the identities of those clubs too shreds .As for Pardew i know he has his critics but i honestly dont think we will get better under this owner and i still think he is doing a good job with his hands tied but thats just my opinion .One thing which will never change though even though we all have differing opinions is we all love the club and that’s what makes supporting NUFC great .
Axel(Quote)
Fact is Santii merely spending money takes time. You can’t buy CL players cos they won’t come. So you buy the best you can afford to get to CL. Then you replace with new and better. Then you do it a third time to get the players you want. City’s 1st set of buys are now all at QPR.
Premandup(Quote)
With us being 2 staff members down, now is the time to take our time and get some competent people in.
I think we will carry on with our excellent recruitment policy so we need a Director of Football that goes along those lines and could try and improve it.
As for a Reserve coach we need to take a look at some of the teams across Europe that are doing well in this department and try and copy. Southampton’s youth system seems to be top notch so I would take a look at them and see what they have got in place.
Santii(Quote)
Premangup@41.. and there lies the problem as you have just said.. you REPLACE WITH NEW AND BETTER, i fully agree with that one…thing is fat boy does not do the second bit, he sells with super fast ease but does not replace at all. we lost two good guysthis window, not one..
craig chisholm(Quote)
‘Scan south to the bottom of the table, however, and you’ll find Newcastle United propping up the rest.
Last month’s £20m sale of Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint-Germain means they are now in profit by a whopping £45m when it comes to transfer dealings over the past five years. During that period under the frugal ownership of Mike Ashley they have been relegated, promoted and, despite keeping their transfer tally well in the black, managed to survive in the Premier League for the past three seasons.
For that, credit must go to managers Chris Hughton and Alan Pardew, the latter having seen star players sold for handsome sums only to wonder why subsequent investment failed to follow. Indeed, by the time the summer comes around, the Magpies would not have not made a permanent signing for nearly 18 months.
Only two other clubs have returned a net-spend profit over the past five years and, like Newcastle, have not challenged for trophies.’
I would say it’s a massive achievement / luck / credit to Pardew/Carr that we are even in the Premier League at all.
DJG(Quote)
Craig the point was that if you look at the table City have spent nearly £500m to get to where they are and Chelsea who started sooner spent nearly £300m. Would any NUFC owner spend that. Course not. OK so to compete with the next lot. Liverpool have spent nearly £100m but still not caught up yet. So How much should we spend.
He is a link to estimated values of squads in Europe.
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/default/top-teams/basics.html
And here is the link to the wages.
http://www.tsmplug.com/football/premier-league-player-salaries-club-by-club/
So to compete financially. we would need to spend another £150m on players and another £100m a year on their wages. So where is that coming from. The club can’t afford it so it would have to be from the owner. So logically lets not spend it and consolidate just below that level which we can do for Nowt, because we are already doing it.
And people say it is lack of ambition when what they want is lack of intelligence.
Premandup(Quote)
Course if the 50,000 season ticket holders stumped up another £3000 each pa then the money is there.
Premandup(Quote)
The other thing you can do Prem is hire a manager that over achieves 😀
georgio(Quote)
We have done Georgio
Premandup(Quote)
I don’t know why 50,000 fans couldn’t buy the club off Mike Ashley for £300m.
We wouldn’t need cash upfront just as the Glazers didn’t when they bought Man Utd.
It would just mean that the club would be saddled with debt for the next 15 years so investment in the squad will be no different to what it is now.
However at least we’ll be able to make sure the club works for the fans & possibly increase commercial revenue etc.
KK(Quote)
Prem it a pity our awful owner doesn’t charge more for tickets and season tickets. Can you imagine having some of the lowest priced tickets in the league. Needs to show some ambition. The fat loser. Jabba cockney blah blah
Sarcasm mode off 😆 😆 😆
Santii(Quote)
@premandup
Not true about Pardew being an overachiever. Ever.
Whilst we’ve made money from transfers that doesn’t mean we’ve bought rubbish players & pardew turned them into world beaters.
It’s more a case of us huying players below market value.
Carroll cost us nothing.
Demba Ba had a clause allowing us to pick him up on a free.
Cabaye had a clause allowing us to sign him for £4.5m despite him being worth much more.
You’re link showing squad values shows that we have a very good squad but our outlay has been much lower.
KK(Quote)
Prem @ 45
I largely agree with most of what you say on here, but “people say it is lack of ambition when what they want is lack of intelligence” is a gross misinterpretation.
It’s easy enough to look at the financial table and say we can’t afford to match the top teams – thinking that we can *would* be idiocy. Similarly, there is a huge correlation between wage bills and final league position. By these metrics, yes, we’re in roughly the correct league position. If you’ve read Soccernomics, in fact, wages are the most important factor in determining league position. Even managers have very limited effects, with only the very best managers in the world capable of consistency ‘over-achieving’ against wages.
But the majority of fans I speak to aren’t asking for £100m+ expenditure. The finances don’t lie, but neither does the league table. At the end of the day we were only just shy of 4th place at the start of January, and it’s arguably a lack of 2-3 quality first team players that have seen us fall away.
Ambition is seeing that the gap to 4th is narrower than it has been in recent years and sensing an opportunity. Spending that little bit extra, and hoping against hope that poor form from opponents, great form from ourselves or even just blind luck sees us into 4th and the Champions League. Imagine the doors that would open financially. And yeah, if we fall short, we’ve lost some money. But not the huge sums that we were wasting in the Freddy Shepherd era.
blip(Quote)
Ambition, whilst we’re at it, is also aiming to win a domestic (or even European) cup. Yes, it might cost a bit of cash, but it’ll increase gate takings and sponsorship money.
And more importantly, if you’re a large sportswear magnate, it gives you more consistent international exposure for your cheap tat emporiums.
THAT is what I don’t get about Mike Ashley’s approach. We are clearly a SportsDirect vehicle, but there’s no reason why that means it can’t be a mutually beneficial partnership. If he’d stop plastering free ads all over the place and let us grow our revenue then we could buy that extra 2-3 players, have a tilt at a cup or two/the top 4 and expose his empire to a larger audience. Win-win, surely?
blip(Quote)
Blip
Do you think we really tried to get Grenier and Cabella in January or do you think it was a “smokescreen” as people say?
I think we did but in both cases the final decisions were taking out of our hands. So we decided not to rush into buy our secondary targets and wait until the summer were it has been made clear that both our main targets will want to leave. We could have ended January with 2 or 3 quality players. Which is what you were asking for.
Now whether or not we get either we will have to wait and see. With hindsight of our last few years transfers i am fairly confident we will get some good players in the coming months.
Santii(Quote)
@Santii, I can see your point. Realistically Cabella & Grenier would have cost close to £30m alone.
But one of those players to “replace” Cabaye + 2 cheaper squad players (similar to Gouffy/Sissoko etc) might have been an option. Or a cheap bid for Gomis, with his club knowing that they’ll get nothing in summer (this would have involved sucking it up and paying the agents fees, unfortunately).
And it’s not just this January because, admittedly, it’s a hard time to buy. But we had all summer too. And there was the summer of 2012 too, let’s not forget.
I’m sure across those 3 windows we could have found some value if we’d really tried. Hell… Long & Jelavic both went to Hull relatively cheaply and would have improved our squad. By all accounts we bid for Grenier and then gave up on anyone once we’d been told to f off. Even with a day and a half or so to see what else was out there.
blip(Quote)
It’s just the frustration of being sooo close to a contender, and then not having the desire to really go for it that’s so upsetting.
It would arguably be easier to take if we were further adrift from the top 6, strangely enough. At least then there’d be a more convincing argument that catching them was entirely beyond our means.
blip(Quote)
Blip. Do agree with what you are saying. That I am guilty of slight exaggeration in order to make a point is a calumny I can live with. 😆
We are achieving what soccernomics indicates possibly slightly more. Given the circumstances Pardew is not underachieving and may well be marginally overachieving, whichever as I said in the article if top 10 finishes is the name of the game he will deliver.
As to cups totally agree that should be the target. I can also see that given last season they would not be a high priority. What we have achieved so far would have been the priority. Once top ten security is achieved then target all the cups available.
I can’t believe that given the predictions of relegation at the start of the season, people are complaining about what has been achieved.
Premandup(Quote)
@Prem, see my comment at 56.
I think a lot of the ill-feeling comes from the feeling that we’re not so far off.
Ignoring the (justified) anger at the tactics and morale on display last weekend, I suspect a lot of the anger and resentment towards this season wouldn’t exist if we’d never had a spell looking up, rather than over our shoulders.
In the same way that a last minute equaliser can feel like a win, I reckon nicking 10th with the last kick of a match would probably feel like a better season than one where we’re resigned to 10th by the last kick of a match.
blip(Quote)
Makes sense mate. It’s all fine differences. IF, big if, Grenier had come in before Cabaye left. And Big if we had won the derby the mood would be very different.
Premandup(Quote)
I don’t think I have heard a single fan say we should be competing with the likes of Chelsea ,Man City ,Arsenal or UTD , so there is little point dragging up their spends on players. They also bring in more income through qualifying top four all the time and mega sponsorship deals. Better to compare us to the likes of Everton ( **** poor ) yet they still hang on where possible to their better players rather than cash in ( Leighton baines ) in fact read this link-http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/458414/Everton-s-Leighton-Baines-reveals-Roberto-Martinez-s-role-in-Man-United-snub
I simply cannot imagine any of our top players reacting like that or our owner/manager going out of their way to convince them to stay for that matter. It comes back to ambition in the end and it isn’t there, least not to win cups or make Europe anyway, the ambition is to make as much money as possible whilst retaining PL status anyone who assumes otherwise is imo deluded.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Blip
I do agree about the 2012 window but not about the others. We all thought we had a strong squad that year though so to an extent i can see why it wasn’t urgent to buy anyone. We could have done we a few more squad players. We found out the hard way that we had over estimated the squad though and it was rectified in the winter window.
I have a feeling we have an agreement with Gomis in place. I know he denied any agreement recently but i still think there might be. Which would answer our lack of urgency on our striker situation.
I am happy we didn’t get either long or Jelavic. Jelavic is in the same boat as Cisse and Long is an overrated striker who has never been a great goal scorer.
Cabaye was sold late in the window so we didn’t need to act until that point. We tryed to get Cabella before he went but Montpellier made it clear he wouldnt be sold until the summer after some initail confusion.
After Grenier fell through after Cabaye had gone i think we decided not to rush. Though we were in talks with Djuricic from Benfica so maybe we did try after Grenier.
Again most of my assumptions are based on some of the quotes during the window and our transfer policy. Doubt we will get to know much more of what happened from a reliable source anytime soon.
Santii(Quote)
Prem at the start of this season did you think cups or league should be priority?
Santii(Quote)
Prem ,you are confusing people complaining at what has been achieved to complaining as to what COULD of been achieved ,at least that’s my gripe.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Ignore that last comment Prem i didn’t read the next sentance of your post 😳 😳 😆 😆
Santii(Quote)
Santi ,There were lot’s of fans saying we didn’t have enough depth at the start of our Europa season so I don’t know where you get the idea we were all content with the squad mate.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Read my post again Kim……
Santii(Quote)
actually i just read it again lol just We could of done with a few more squad players. Is the impression we had but i didn’t really word it right.
I am tired leave me alone 😀
Santii(Quote)
Kim I think the very best we could have achieved this season is about where Everton are. I think that most people would have snatched your hand off if you offered them where we are. I think we were expecting another struggle. Maybe where Stoke or Villa are.
Premandup(Quote)
Santi@ I have 😕
Prem ,I would defo go along with that but having done so well, to then not compete for a cup when it’s not going to get us relegated is embarrassing .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Anyone watching the opening ceremony for winter olympics ❓
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim I think that if they had said we are not competeing for cups or Europa league spot this season we need to consolidate most would have been happy. But Management can never say that as they have players etc to mollify. They did say we were not competing for cups but hey, that just shows a lack of ambition.
Premandup(Quote)
All i care about in the winter Olympics is the Jamaican bob slay team. Nostalgia and all that.
meh on the rest of it.
Santii(Quote)
SANTI, I like the figure skating mostly but enjoy all of it tbh, not keen on the summer Olympics only the swimming.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Prem
The thing is though. When this whole no ambition thing came from. was the fan forum the club gave. The answer came of the back of a relegation threatened awful season, a shaky start to the current campaign and he really only meant this season we would not prioritize cups. Which is perfectly understandable even if you don’t like it.
Considering the atmosphere in the summer you would think we were going down and selling every decent player we have. A bit like this week really. Top 10 was the target and we are there comfortably.
Santii(Quote)
Kim i think the fact there isn’t very many Brits in it is the reason i can’t get into it.
I always like to have someone to support. I can’t really get behind it otherwise. plus we are always huge underdogs in the winter Olympics so it makes us want to win even more. 😀
Santii(Quote)